Twenty down, how many to go?

I cannot believe that I've made it through 20 whole weeks of pregnancy already. It feels like time has flown by this time. When I was pregnant with Kate, I wrote several notes on facebook during the process. I think I wrote one for every trimester and one for her birth. I've kept a more constant update on here about how things have been, but I think I'll recap the first 20 weeks.

Our hope was to be strategic in when this baby would be born. We live far away from our families and we live in the mountains, so we knew we didn't want a baby at a time that would impede our holiday travels or where the weather would prevent our family to come visit. My husband is also out-of-town several weeks in the summer, and I'm definitely not interested in having a baby by myself. So between December and February are good months for us to conceive, and between June and August. I went off birth control several months ago just to get my cycles regulated so that we could try between December and February. But I conceived in November. Both our babies have been conceived in November, actually. I should have waited til at least Monday, December 6th to test, but I was too anxious to wait. I bought a two pack of regular pregnancy tests on Friday the 3rd. I took the first one Friday night, and I was convinced there was a faint line. Kraig agreed. So we waited and I took another Saturday morning. Still a faint line, but definitely stronger than the night before. I couldn't take the anticipation anymore, so I went to Target and bought two digital tests. There's nothing like the word "pregnant" on the screen to convince you. Saturday night I took the digital test, and it was positive. We're pregnant! I still had another digital left, so I took it Sunday morning just to make sure the previous three weren't flukes. It also said "pregnant." It may be a month earlier than we planned, but we are ecstatic!

I felt the baby move pretty early on, which is always a comforting thing. I've never had morning sickness or most of the traditional pregnancy symptoms, so feeling the baby definitely makes everything feel real. I didn't have an early ultrasound with this pregnancy, either, so we hadn't got to see it yet. I went for my first physical appointment on February 7th and finally got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. I think the heart rate was 148 bpm. All the old wives' tales say that anything above 140 is a girl. I was pretty convinced we'd have a girl, so the heart rate was no surprise to me.

I scheduled my big ultrasound appointment for March 14th, my birthday. I thought it'd be a great way to spend my birthday. We found out Kate's gender on March 13th, so it was kind of neat to have the appointments on such similar dates. Our friend Sara took the day off work to keep Kate for the morning, so Kraig and I went by ourselves. We got in pretty quickly and got to see the baby very quickly. It was comforting to see that there actually was a baby in there. The tech took pictures of various body parts and organs, and then the time came to look for the gender. Before she even asked if we wanted to know the gender, we could tell it was a boy. She finally asked and I quickly said, "yes." I could feel my heart racing. I knew what she was going to say, but I wanted it confirmed. "It's a boy," she said without hesitation. My eyes welled up with tears. It was definitely an exciting moment. We're having a boy. Kate's going to have a brother. We would have been just as happy with a girl, but we could hardly contain our excitement. Before we had even made it out of the office and to the car, we were on the phone spreading the news. I was 18 weeks that day.

Yesterday, we hit the 20 week mark. The beginning was a little exhausting, especially when chasing around Kate. Once the second trimester hit, though, my energy returned. I'm feeling great and enjoying being able to feel Jackson move more and more. There's nothing like feeling a baby move inside you. It's a feeling that's only for you. No one else can share it. I cannot wait to meet this little boy. This first half has flown by. I'm sure the second half will go slower, especially as I continue to grow larger and larger. I'm just trying to savor every moment. It's almost April, though. August will be here before we know it!

Things on the homefront

At my ultrasound earlier in the week, the ultrasound tech determined that I'm measuring a week ahead. Counting that way, I'll be 20 weeks on Monday! I'm going to stick with 19, but 20 sounds good! I can't believe how fast this is flying along.

Things are going well around here. We're set to close on our house on April 14th and we should have keys that day. We've been enjoying some spring-like weather, which has Kate begging to go outside constantly. Her vocabulary is rapidly expanding. I read something the other day that a kid her age should have a regular vocabulary of 5-20 words. This seems low to me, considering that Kate has around 150 regular words in her vocab. Not to mention all the words she comprehends. She's constantly surprising me with a new word and it's amazing how much easier it is to communicate now. Kraig's doing well. He's planning for a big summer with two trips and a week of camp, PLUS having a baby. I'm sure it'll be crazy!

I'm still feeling pretty well. I had some allergy issues earlier this week, since things are blooming here, but they seem to have dissipated. I'm still dealing with back/hip pain, particularly with sleeping, but I anticipate they'll be with me for a while. I had a massage when I was about this far along with Kate and it helped tremendously. I may have to see if we can work that in the budget. I'm getting excited about having a little boy. I sorted through all the tubs of clothing that Kate's outgrown in the last 20 months. There were ten total. I pulled out about a tub full of gender neutral clothes and loaded the rest to send back to my sister. She's going to store the girl clothes until we've both decided whether or not we're done making babies. We've got three outfits this week from friends and my mom bought me a new diaper bag for my birthday (Vera Bradley). We've got hand-me-downs coming, too. All-in-all, I think Kate had too many clothes, but I'm sure our little guy will have plenty.

I've come to a decision about cloth diapers, I think. I'm going to purchase Kawaii diapers. I think prefolds and covers are a great idea, but I don't think they'll be as great for us since they're a little more of a hassle to use. I love the idea of pocket diapers and all-in-ones. I'm planning to purchase mostly pocket diapers, but also a few AIOs to use if we're going out. I'm still debating between Velcro and snap versions. Velcro seems to make sense for ease of use, but they tend to wear out a little faster than snaps. Though, as a friend reminded me, you can replace the Velcro or even convert them to snaps eventually. Price wise, they're the same, so I may just order a few of each to start with and then add more once I decide what I like. Overall, I'm going to be able to get everything I need to get started, including some smaller diapers to use in the newborn phase, for around $150. That's about what it costs for two months of disposable diapers, but they'll last much longer. I can't wait to get started!

Next doctor's appointment, just a boring, routine checkup is April 11. A little over three weeks away!

The Results Are In!!

(Pardon me while I take a break from the current blog series to make an announcement!)

Yesterday was a big day. We were celebrating my 26th birthday and we were having our big ultrasound. It was a great day! My ultrasound appointment was at 9:30. We got in pretty quickly, and it wasn't long before we were finally seeing images of our little one. This was the first peek we'd had, and we were ready to see it! The tech began taking pictures of different body parts, examining the heart, stomach, and other organs. Then came the obvious between the legs shot. I knew what she was looking at. Kraig knew too. And it was quite obvious that baby had boy parts! We knew before the tech even asked if we wanted to know. Finally, she asked. I said, "Yes," quite emphatically, even though I was pretty positive about what I was seeing. She said, "It's a boy!" It was shocking. We wanted a boy, but we were perfectly happy with our girl and another would have been fine--definitely more economical. But we're getting our boy. I cried a little because I was so shocked. It's still not quite settled in me. The ultrasound finished pretty quickly and Kraig and I left to make our list of phone calls. My actual appointment with my midwife wasn't until later in the day, so we sat in the parking lot sharing our good news.

Then we realized it was barely after 10 a.m. Our friend Sara was watching Kate so we could go to the appointment and then enjoy a lunch out for my birthday. So we headed to Target to kill some time. Once it was lunch time, we headed to our favorite Chinese restaurant and ate way too much food. It was great. Then we headed home in time to feed Kate lunch and put her down for a nap. Shortly after she went down, I headed out for my midwife appointment. After waiting in the lobby for over an hour past my appointment time, all she really had to tell me was that the ultrasound looked good. Good news, but such a wait! Then I went to do my weekly Monday grocery shopping. Once I got home, we rested for a while and continued to question our name choice. We want to be 100% sure about it before we let it out. I also decided I wasn't interested in cooking dinner, so we went to Cici's and enjoyed some pizza and salad.

It was a great birthday. It was very special to have our ultrasound on my birthday. We had Kate's the day before my birthday, since my birthday was on a Saturday that year. They were both great experiences. Now we're planning for a boy. We'll have a new room to decorate, clothes to collect, and I finally get to start ordering my cloth diapers! I'm super excited to finally know the gender. I'm very grateful that I'm still feeling well. I'm tired and having difficulty sleeping, but that's the worst of it! 22 weeks to go!

Things They Don't Tell You, part 2

If you haven't read my previous blog post, it's part 1. Check it out. As I said before, there is lots of information available to you about pregnancy, labor & delivery, postpartum and dealing with a newborn. Unfortunately, some things you don't hear about until you experience them. Some things, perhaps, people are uncomfortable talking about and other things you read but ignored, thinking, "That'll never happen to me!" My hope is to be transparent in an attempt to help first-timers more aware of what they might encounter.

More pregnancy-related "secrets":

11) Your belly button may literally go from being an "innie", to being so stretched you can't tell where it was, to being an "outie" that very obviously protrudes from beneath your shirt.

12) You can get stretch marks ANYWHERE. Some people get them just on their bellies, others have them on their legs and breasts. Excited yet?

13) Your belly will most likely itch from the stretching it endures. Lotion helps!

14) Studies show that if you're born to get stretch marks, you'll get them regardless of what kind of preventative measures you take.

15) Even once your breasts stop being tender (generally after the first trimester), your nipples can remain very sensitive to things such as touch and temperature change.

16) Your sense of balance is a constantly changing thing as you adapt to an ever-growing belly. Simple things like bowling or tying your shoes can become complicated. (Yes, the bowling reference is from experience).

17) Reading about newborn care and breastfeeding is important. Yes, some things can and will come naturally, but having a good reference is vital in those first few weeks when you're sleep deprived and emotional. Start reading before the baby is born so you have a leg up on things.

18) It's never stupid to call the doctor's office and ask questions. They know you're hormonal and full of questions. You're not the first mom to panic about something every five minutes. The doctor's office is an important resource. It's important to call when there is potential for your concern to be important. If your doctor's office doesn't take your questions seriously, I would consider finding one that does.

19) People (including ones you don't know) will try to give you all sorts of advice once they realize you're pregnant. Some of it may be helpful, but most of it will be annoying or even shocking. Having a patent response such as, "Thanks for sharing that with me," can help you get through awkward situations. (It also helps if you can control the eye rolls.)

20) At your "big" ultrasound, you may not get the news you're expecting. Baby might not cooperate with the ultrasound tech and you may have no idea what the gender is. Also, you may find yourself disappointed at the gender that is discovered. If you're hoping for a particular gender and end up with the other, you may find it takes some time to adjust your thinking and re-excite yourself about your upcoming arrival. While you may feel stupid or guilty about this, it's normal!

How I'm feeling...exhausted. After spending the day on my feet cooking and cleaning, I'm ready for bed!

What's next?? Part 3 of the Things They Don't Tell You series.

Two weeks later

It's been a long stretch between posts here. I had every intention of writing last week, but our world was extra crazy last week. On Monday, I got word that our loan pre-approval was done and we could now meet with our realtor. We met with our realtor, George for the first time on Thursday to go over paperwork, sign some preliminary documents and check out some potential properties online so we could decide which we wanted to see in person. When we left the office after nearly two hours, George said to pick the top three or four and let him know as soon as possible. I called him back about an hour later after Kraig and I had narrowed the options and he said, "Okay, let me get some things in order and we'll see if we can't go look at these properties tomorrow morning." That felt fast, but we were excited to get out there and see things in person after searching online for almost as long as we've lived here.

Friday morning, we set off to meet George at the first property. It was a townhouse. Being from small towns that still don't have "townhouses," Kraig and I were very skeptical of the idea. George thought it was a perfect option, though, because you can get a lot more square footage for your money in a townhouse. We arrived a few minutes early and surveyed the neighborhood, in spite of the fact that we'd driven past the night before. When George arrived, we went in and were pleasantly surprised at what we saw.

The front door opened to a decent sized living room with a pass-through window into the kitchen. Just off the living room was a small half-bath. I was just thrilled that there would definitely be two toilets in the house. Beyond the living room was the kitchen and dining area. Though there's not much counter space, there was definitely room for an island to be put in and for a table to seat at least 6. The kitchen appliances, all which appeared to be new, were black Kenmore energy star appliances. The fridge, a side-by-side, had an ice maker and water dispenser in the door. They might not have been the color I would have chosen, but they still seemed a little like a dream come true. The dishwasher definitely added to the dream. On the back wall of the kitchen was a sliding glass door, where there is potential for a nice deck, as this floor is the second floor based on the back of the house. Next, we went down stairs to see the fully finished walk-out basement. It had another sliding door, where there was a perfect location for a patio that would be shaded by the deck. Off of the main area of the basement was a storage closet, a large utility closet for washer and dryer AND a full bathroom. Next we went to see the bedrooms upstairs. There were two smaller rooms for the kids, another full bath and the master bedroom. They all had decent closet space, and I should mention that all three of the bathrooms appeared to be recently renovated. So much space and it was clean and new looking. The carpets had been cleaned and the walls had even been repainted some variety of white. I think I was scared to like it because I knew Kraig didn't like the townhouse idea. But he loved it. After leaving, we realized the only things we might change were small things like light fixtures and the flooring of the kitchen and bathroom. These are all minor things that we could do eventually, nothing that would have to be done before we moved in. Definitely a positive!

After seeing the townhouse, we went to see a ranch style house a few blocks away. We walked in and I kind of cringed. After entering the second room, I said, "I think we can go now." The house was mess. The walls were dirty, the floors were dirty and felt unstable. The kitchen was grimy. That was all I needed to see. It was a disappointment, but we knew we didn't have money to fix up a house like that and we knew this house would never pass the inspection for our loan. Sadly, the prices of this house and the nice, new townhouse was very similar. We still had another house to see, though, so we went on.

The next house looked really cute in the pictures, but it was not so cute in person. The front screen door was literally hanging by the bottom hinge and the hydraulics at the top. Not a good sign. As we stepped onto the front little deck up to the door, the whole thing moved and made bad noises. Not so promising. As we went in the house, there were bedrooms immediately on the left and right. The living room was basically the center of the house, and everything was built off it. The kitchen was straight back from the front door and it looked decent, but the appliances and flooring were very worn and showing their age. Off the kitchen was a door to the back yard. It was a small area, but decent looking and much better kept than the rest of the house. When we went back in, we went to the master bedroom, which was beside the kitchen. It had a great closet and it's own bathroom. The bathroom was in the best shape of any room in the house, but it was just an average size. We left the master and went to the second bathroom, which was also in good shape. Then we checked out the bedrooms. They were a decent size, but their condition was not so great. There was nothing major wrong with the house, but it's size and layout was not for us. There was no room to grow there, for sure. Definitely not for us.

So we went outside and, after securing the precarious front door, we talked about what we'd seen. Obviously neither of the houses were for us. Their conditions were not as good as the townhouse, for sure. Neither of them had a basement either, finished or not. We really value our current finished basement space for when we have teens over. It's just a great, comfortable place to hang out. That was definitely something we were hoping for in a new place. All-in-all, we just kept coming back to the townhouse. Yes, we'd only seen three properties in person, but we'd seen the best three properties in person. In our price range in this area (the greater DC area), there's not much that's in livable condition. Ninety percent of the places we were interested in at our price range were foreclosures. You just never know what you're walking into with foreclosures. Unfortunately, the two we looked at weren't great. So, standing in the front yard of house #3, we decided we were ready to pursue the townhouse. It had only been on the market for ten or twelve days and we didn't want to lose it. Who knows how long it would be before something in this condition would come along again in our price range.

So, Friday afternoon, we put in an offer. And then we waited. George finally called this morning (Monday) and said that the sellers had countered our offer. They didn't come down much at all, but we were comfortable countering a little higher than our original offer. George called in the counter offer, and we waited. A few hours later he called Kraig and began chatting about the weather. He was making small talk. Clearly he had bad news. Then he said, "Are you having a good day? Enjoy the holiday? Because it's about to get better. You've got a townhouse!" We were thrilled. We never saw it going this way, but we prayed for God to give us open eyes and minds and to help us be clear about what He wanted for us. Thankfully, we never doubted our decision. Tomorrow we'll have some papers to sign and then there's inspections and appraisals. As long as those things go okay and the house is in an acceptable condition for the loan, we should be in settlement (whatever that means) around March 16th and keys in hand by April 16th. It's perfect timing, in spite of how fast it felt. We'll be able to give our 30 days notice in April and be out before May rent is due. Our lease is up after April, and while it just goes month-to-month after that, we're ready to be out of this house and neighborhood. They've served us very well, but we're ready to be somewhere else. We love Winchester and plan on staying here. The townhouse is in the school district we wanted, which is awesome. Our hope is to live there until the kids are in school and I've got a job. We'll have a little more income then and we'll be able to, hopefully, buy the house that we can stay in forever. This is home.

Sorry for the long, non-pregnancy related post. This is our excitement right now.

In pregnancy news, I'm 15 weeks today. Things are going well. Three more weeks until the "big" ultrasound!

What's next? Hopefully, the promised "Things they don't tell you" posts.

I Can Hear Your Heartbeat...

(Now I have the Partridge Family stuck in my head!)

I finally got to meet my midwife yesterday and she was great. In my initial consultation at the doctor's office, the nurse was convinced they would not let me even attempt a vaginal delivery because of a surgery that I had not long after Kate was born. The midwife, however, did not see this as a problem and I am so happy. If I have to have a C-section because of an emergency or something, that's one thing. But to not even be able to have the option was very upsetting to me. Anyway, the appointment went great. It was my first, so they had to do a Pap smear and exam. No biggie. But I also got to hear baby's heart beat. It sounded amazing! Strong and steady at 148 beats per minute. Old wives' tales say anything above 140 is a girl and anything below is a boy, but we'll see. The midwife, Karen, said that according to the Chinese predictor charts, it's a boy. Someone will be right, I'm sure:)

It was great to finally hear the baby, but I started feeling some signs of life in there on Friday, February 4th. I was only 12w 4d, but I'm still feeling it now. There's definitely a baby in there (as if the expanding waistline wasn't evidence). She wanted me back in four weeks for a checkup and ultrasound, however she's out of town on March 7th. So, as I hoped, we got to push the ultrasound to March 14th, my birthday!! With Kate, we had her ultrasound on Friday, March 13th, so it's fun that the dates are so close AND so close to my birthday. I can't think of anything more fun to do for my birthday, either. Our friend Sara took the day off so she can keep Kate during the appointment. She even suggested Kraig and I do breakfast or lunch that day while she has Kate. How sweet! I'm very thankful to have her as a friend.

Yesterday was the 13 completed weeks mark. Welcome, second trimester!! It feels like time is flying by. In less than 5 weeks, we'll know whether Kate will have a brother or a sister. I can't wait! Oh, the picture included here is a belly shot from yesterday. I'm going to be huge again!

How I'm feeling...great!! Minus the stuffy nose leftover from last week's cold, I feel great. Karen gave me a prescription for a nasal spray and a muscle relaxer for my restless leg syndrome, so good sleep is finally headed my way. I'm definitely in my maternity clothes now. I even went shopping for a few new things this weekend and found some things that I love. I love being pregnant!

Something's in the water

I've had TWO friends confide pregnancies in me this week. Two. Must be something in the water?? It's very exciting to have these ladies so we can endure our pregnancies together. When I was pregnant with Kate, I had a friend from our previous church that was pregnant. Our due dates were a day shy of eight weeks apart. It was great to have her to call and ask questions and to talk to about the stupid things you obsess over when you're pregnant. There are things that we talked about that I would never discuss with someone else. Our shared pregnancies created a special bond. Though, after seeing the size of her newborn, I was admittedly a little more nervous about delivering mine. Really? Something that big is going to be making it's way out of me? Eek! It was nice to know that what I was experiencing was normal, because she was going through the same things.

I'm so excited to have this again with two friends. I'll be eleven weeks Monday, one friend will be 7 weeks on Sunday and the other is just about four weeks pregnant. We'll all be hitting our milestones within just a few weeks of each other. In my previous pregnancy, my friend was overdue before she gave birth and I was induced 3 weeks early. Our babies have only a five week age difference. It's a very exciting time! I just keep waiting to hear another pregnancy announcement!

How I'm feeling...I super excited! I'm excited to have friends in my boat again. I'm excited that my next appointment is just a little over a week away. The anticipation is growing! I don't feel like my belly is growing too much. My pants are still tight, but not any different than they were in the beginning. Maybe the bloat is ending and the baby bump is starting protrude. It won't be long!

Twelve more days...

The anticipation of finally getting to hear our baby's heartbeat is killing me. I don't feel pregnant most of the time. Sure I have some minor things, but I've never had morning sickness. Isn't that like the grand sign of pregnancy? I'm not saying I want any, but I would like some more confirmation that our little one is growing strong. Twelve days until the next doctor's appointment. It's kind of exciting, though that we'll be going for our big ultrasound in 6-8 weeks. It's unbelievable!! I can't believe I'm eleven weeks already. We've known for almost two full months already. Where does the time go? I'm sure it'll slow down very quickly, but right now we're on warp speed.

I'm still at this impasse between regular clothes and maternity clothes. My pants are tight. Tighter at sometimes than others. My t-shirts for sure are tighter. Maternity pants, however, fall down. Maternity shirts are baggy. I forgot about the in-between phase. I've been scouting the stores for good maternity deals, but so far I haven't bought anything new. It won't be long and I'll definitely need new jeans. My previous maternity jeans are so not cute. They were okay last time, I thought, but they don't look right with any of my shoes. I'll probably pick up a pair or two to get me to spring and then I have several cute pairs of capris and shorts. The belly band is always helpful, though. It's the only way my dress pants come close to fitting.

It was a baby kind of weekend for my friends. My friend who was on hospital bedrest with twins had her babies early Saturday morning. The twins were born a 32 weeks, plus a few days. They seem to be doing well. In the pictures, only one of them was on oxygen which is phenomenal! They must be strong little boys! Another friend had his baby Friday afternoon, also a boy. And there are so many ladies pregnant that I know right now. It's crazy how they seem to come in waves. I'm excited, though!

How I'm feeling...I'm feeling good. The exhaustion is still there and I'm not sleeping well at night, but that's about it. I'm starting to get a little more excited and it's feeling more real. I just can't wait to hear and see our little one finally!!

The things you forget about...

I feel like I haven't slept in weeks. We went through a week where Kate didn't sleep well at night, followed by me deciding that I just can't get comfortable anymore. I struggled with restless leg syndrome while I was pregnant with Kate, and it has apparently returned. Kraig decided I'm too difficult to sleep with, so he's spent the last week or so on the couch. The extra space is nice, but it's not improving my sleep at all. I'm having crazy, vivid dreams which never make for good sleep. I'm usually getting up to pee once a night and then I have a terrible time falling back to sleep. How did I forget about this?! I remember the dreams last time, but I don't remember having sleep issues because of comfort until much later on in my first pregnancy. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I do wish I had kept a better record of those things, though. Who knows?

Regardless, that's the worst of my symptoms right now, and I feel truly blessed. I can't imagine what it's like to go through morning sickness (or all-day sickness). I'm also blessed that Kate still takes two naps most days, so I can usually snag at least an hour of nap a day. It's a big help.

I'm supposed to be posting about maternity clothes this time around, but I wasn't really feeling it today. Maybe next time!! Though, I do have a fantastic kid product to rave about. Before Christmas, Kate had suddenly decided that she did not want or need to take baths anymore. Bath time became a huge challenge just to keep her in the tub, let alone get her clean. It was something we dreaded. Then came Christmas. Kate got this fantastic tub toy, and it's like a switch flipped.


It's a motorized faucet toy that suction cups to the side of the tub. Water runs out and through a variety of different cups that filter out water in different ways. When water runs out of the green one, the propeller spins. She loves it! Now we can't get her out of the tub. She wants to take baths all the time. She wants to stay in and play until she's well beyond pruny. It's amazing.
I know it's not made for infants, but it's such a cool thing that I wanted to share. I wish we'd had one sooner.

How I'm feeling...I think we've established that I'm tired. That's pretty much it.

Next time? I'm not making any promises!

Why cloth diapers??

As a minister's wife, I am very blessed to be able to stay home with my children. For now, at least, we are financially able to live this way. We pay our bills and we enjoy a few little extras, but nothing fancy. We have one car and clearance rack clothes. And we're fine with that. The ultimate plan is to eventually go back to work once the kids are in school. Regardless, every little penny counts. I don't coupon shop as much as I used to because I've found that shopping at Aldi is the better option for us. Sure, I still have to pick a few things up at another store, but it saves us in the long run. I can't tell you the last time I paid full price for anything other than diapers. I use a cheaper brand of diapers, but it still adds up significantly. What's the cheaper alternative? Cloth diapering.

I considered CDs when I was pregnant with Kate, but I didn't look too far. We got so many diapers at showers and on sale before she was born, that she was five months old before we had to buy more. Thirteen months later, I feel like that was the lazy choice. How much money have we wasted on diapers that we could have been putting towards Kate's college fund? I'd hate to do the math!

Being pregnant with our second child, I've been doing tons of research on cloth diapering. It's not what it used to be, that's for sure! I was a cloth diapered baby, and I always thought my mom was crazy for spending her time washing poopy diapers when she could just buy disposables and, well, dispose of them. Fortunately, I have several college friends who cloth diaper, and they've made me realize that it's really not that bad. In fact, they love it! One of them even started making her own cloth diapers, which has now turned into a business that she's able to run out of her home. I can't wait to try out some of her designs. You can check out her website and blog here. There is a multitude of information on her site about the types of diapers out there, cleaning methods and other tricks and tips.

For me, I'm hoping to try a few different types, but I'm guessing when we're at home I'll use prefolds with covers. Every once in a while you'll find diapers for sale on craigslist and there are tons listed on eBay, so I'm hoping we can slowly buy up what we need before the baby comes. Right now, I'm waiting until we can find out the gender so I can purchase gender-appropriate covers. I can't wait! We'll still probably use disposables at church and with babysitters, but the savings will add up--not to mention the lack of diapers in the landfill!

And for some reason, I find it all very exciting!

How I'm feeling today...exhausted! Kraig decided to move out of our bed for the time being because my tossing and turning is keeping him up at night. I had no idea I was tossing and turning, but it could explain why I don't feel like I've slept well in a while. Having the bed to myself didn't make me sleep any better, unfortunately. I've been able to sneak a nap most days, though, and that helps tremendously!

What's next? A tip on finding great maternity clothes!

The word is out...

We announced to our teens on Sunday that we're pregnant (my husband is a youth minister). Then we came home and put it on facebook. Everything is official once it's on facebook, of course! It's nice to finally have the news out. By the time we announced it, we'd already known for five weeks. We waited til 12 weeks the last time around, but we didn't find out quite as soon then either. It's nice to have people excited with us and it's nice to feel like I can wear the clothes that really fit me and not try to hide my every growing belly.

How I'm feeling today...I feel good! I'm tired and emotional, but that's still the worst of it. I'm so blessed to not deal with morning sickness. I'm also excited about all the changes coming. We're hoping to buy a house and move before the baby's born. I've also decided to cloth diaper and I'm excited about that. Now let's see if we can get Kate potty-trained before August!!

Next up? More on my cloth diapering decision!

First appointment

I had my first OB appointment last Friday, at 7 weeks 4 days. I only met with a nurse, who went over the basic pregnancy information and told me how the rest of my doctor's appointments would work. She took a more thorough medical history and did another urine pregnancy test. After sharing my previous birth experience, she acted like there was a good chance the doctor would not let me deliver vaginally (due to some tearing that had to be surgically repaired). I made sure she understood that a cesarean section would not be an option in my book until vaginal delivery had been tried. I don't care if I have to have another follow-up surgery, I want to deliver vaginally. That was upsetting. I have to get them a few of my medical records from the other hospital, and hopefully they'll change their mind. Otherwise, I'll be finding a new doctor. Not ideal. I was also given lab orders for a 24-hour urine test, a glucose test, and numerous blood tests. I went to get the kit for the urine test yesterday and I'll do the blood work on Wednesday. Hopefully, all of that will come back good and we'll just get to wait until the next appointment, which is February 7th.

How I'm feeling....I'm feeling very anxious about the possibility of not "being allowed" to deliver vaginally. If my previous doctor thought that, I should have been informed. It would have heavily weighed on our decision to have another baby. I'm also hungry all the time. This isn't anything particularly new for me, but if I don't eat I feel sick. Strong smells are also starting to make me nauseated. I only experienced this once with Kate's pregnancy, so hopefully it won't last long!

First appointment today...

The not-so-big day is finally here. My pregnancy confirmation appointment. I'm 7w 4days. The appointment is supposed to consist of blood & urine tests and a full medical history. Nothing else. I'm not excited at all. It seems like such a waste of time. I guess we'll see how it goes!

How I'm feeling today... I'm so glad to be home and sleeping in my own bed! We finally got home yesterday and I was more than ready to be back. I'm having occasional nausea if I smell something I don't like, such as the dirty diaper of my daughter. Yuck! If I roll over too fast, I'm experiencing some muscle cramps. These are generally called round ligament pains, and I definitely did not experience them so early last time around. They are a little alarming the first time you feel them and don't know what is going on. I know the first time I experienced them with my first pregnancy I was on the phone to the doctor's office pretty quickly. I thought they might be contractions. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Other than that, things are good! The first trimester is more than half over already!!

Christmas joys and woes

We're still not home from our Christmas travels, but I have a few minutes by myself today. I promised I would share how breaking the news to our family went. It was a big letdown for me! We wanted to find a "Big Sister" shirt for our daughter to wear to help make the announcement, and we did finally. We had her in a sweatsuit with the jacket zipped up so that no one could read her shirt. Once everyone was there, we were going to take it off and just see who noticed. My sister and parents knew, but I still wanted everyone there. Before my dad arrived, my sister told my husband that Kate looked hot and so he took her jacket off. My 15 year old cousin says, "Why does her shirt say 'Big Sister?'" And someone, of course, asked if I was pregnant. I was really bummed at how it was going down so I said no. They acted excited, but everyone wasn't in the room. Finally my grandma comes in and acts all confused and someone explains to her. They were genuinely excited and there were plenty of congratulations, but I was hoping for a more organized moment. I guess that's the luck of the draw when it's your second child. Other than that, Kate had a virus on the trip and Kraig finally caught my cold. We're all finally recovering, I think, so hopefully the next two days will be better. I'm excited to get home for my doctor's appointment on Friday. I know I'm not going to get to see the doctor, but hopefully it will make this all seem real.

It's starting to look real, though. They say you show faster with your second, and they're not kidding! I was fine one days and all of a sudden a few days before six weeks, my pants decide not to fit anymore. I have an obvious baby bump that sucking in will not hide. It's pretty crazy. I'm not quite big enough for my maternity shirts yet, but it won't be long. And no, it's not from gas or constipation.

In other news, a guy from our church who has been waiting on a heart transplant for a long time finally got one on Christmas day. The surgery went very well, but afterwards things got a little sticky. They had to go back in and explore things, but he seems to be doing better now. He and his family, the Flynns, could definitely use your prayers.

I also have a sweet friend from college who is on hospital bed rest with her twin boys right now. One of the baby's water broke on Thursday and they're keeping her in the hospital until it's safe for them to be delivered or until they have to deliver them. The baby's are almost 29 weeks at this point, but they are much to small to leave their Mommy right now. Please pray for her and her family. She has a toddler at home, as well, and their hospital is a good distance from where they live. Pray for the strength of the babies, that they would mature quickly and be able to be born healthy. Pray that they are able to stay in for the next eight weeks that they're hoping for. Pray that no infections develop and that she not go into labor on her own. Pray for her husband as he juggles work, master's classes, a toddler and being away from his wife. Pray for her, too. For her strength, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually to get through this trying time. Pray that the doctors would make the best decisions for everyone involved. It's a scary situation, but it's nothing God can't handle!! I wish I could do more than pray, but I'm glad if there is one thing I can do it's plead to God for them!

How I'm feeling...I'm exhausted. With Kate being sick this week, I've missed a lot of sleep. It's definitely not helping the pregnancy exhaustion at all. So far, still no morning sickness. I'm also feeling nervous. After dealing with a particularly difficult sick child this week, I'm doubting my ability to handle two. I know I'll be fine, but my emotions are a wreck!

Three more days....

(til we leave for our Christmas travels!!)

As we prepare to leave to be with our families for Christmas, I'm reminded of how we told my extended family that we were expecting. While we wanted to wait until my first doctor's appointment or the end of the first trimester (which, oddly enough, came the same week), we wanted to be able to tell our family in person. The reaction is so much better than over the phone, as we've learned from when we called and told our parents and siblings about Baby #2 a couple weeks ago. We tossed around different ideas, but my mom called one day and said that she had a gift I could open early that would tell everyone. So as the family gathered at my parents' house, preparing to eat, my mom tossed me a package and told everyone that she wanted me to open it now. I remember trying to open it, but my hands were shaking either from nerves or excitement. It was crazy. When I finally got the wrapping paper off, it revealed a Willow Tree figurine box. I immediately knew what it was, but I opened the box to show everyone else. It was Cherish, the figurine of a pregnant woman gently touching her baby belly. It took a few moments for everyone to understand it's significance, but then the room was filled with congratulations. It is a very special memory, especially because my grandfather who passed away just before Kate was born was there to hear the good news.

This time around, we're planning to share at Christmas, but I'm not sure how quite yet. We won't be there when the whole family is gathered, but I'll have my uncle's family and my grandma to share it with. I'll share how it went after we return home.

How I'm feeling...I'm feeling like this first trimester might last forever. It's nice that you get an extra two weeks when you weren't really pregnant tacked on to the total, but it's still a long time. We got a positive pregnancy test at 3 weeks, 5 days. With Kate, I didn't realize that I needed to test until 5 weeks, 2 days. It's only an eleven day difference, but it seems significant. Today, I'm 5 weeks, 5 days. Thirteen more days until my pregnancy confirmation appointment. I'll be 7 weeks, 4 days. By the time I finally see the midwife/doctor, I'll be 13 weeks. Seems like forever away.

My faves...

If this is your first pregnancy, you're probably getting tons of advice about what different baby and pregnancy items you should try. Some of the advice is good. Some is worthless. My advice, of course, is the best. All jokes aside, I would like to share some of my favorite items and some of the ones I wasted money on.

1) The absolute best item you can have in your pregnancy wardrobe is a Bella Band. It's a stretchy band that you use to help your pants fit. You can wear it over unbuttoned pants that are too small in the beginning of your pregnancy, use it to help hold up maternity clothes that are too big in the middle, and wear it over your pre-pregnancy pants again after the baby is born, but before you've lost all that baby weight. It's affordable and it will save you from trying to buy clothes to accommodate your ever-growing body before you're ready for them. Check it out here http://www.ingridandisabel.com/bellaband.html. They are carried in several stores, but the cheapest I've seen is $16.99 at Target.

2) Sleep bras. Typically, I don't sleep in a bra. When that area becomes super sensitive, though, I find it helpful to sleep with a little support. My favorite was a sleep, nursing bra from Motherhood Maternity. I bought it for when I would be nursing, but it came in handy well before the baby was born. It's just a gentle support. Nothing tight or constricting.

3) It's not a product, but I love www.babycenter.com. It's a website all about pregnancy and parenting. There are great discussion boards that you can join to talk to women that are due around the same time that you are and see what they're going through. I enjoy reading them and knowing that I'm not the only crazy pregnant lady out there. There's also a week-by-week calendar that shows what's going on with your baby and your body. I love to see the progress.

4) The mother of all pregnancy books, of course, is What to Expect When You're Expecting. I read it religiously. It's a good resource for all those questions you have that aren't necessarily doctor worthy. I very strongly recommend it for all pregnant women.

5) Hand-in-hand with the book is www.whattoexpect.com. It has a lot of the information that the book has, but it also provides an outlet for discussing your pregnancy with other moms-to-be. It's a great resource!

6) With pregnancy brain being a common problem for expecting mothers, I recommend lots of note pads and a planner/calendar for your purse. The note pads are great for making lists of things to do or things that have already been done, just in case you forget. And you will. The calendar is super important as you will constantly be scheduling doctor's appointments for you for the next nine months, and then for your baby as soon as he or she is born.

7) Extra pillows or a special made pregnancy body pillow. By the time our daughter was born, my husband barely had any room in our bed. I used 4-5 pillows every night to try to stay comfortable. Two under my head, one to hug, one between my knees, and one between my feet. It was insane, but it helped.

8) While I have no experience with morning sickness, I have heard Preggie Pops highly recommended for anyone that does. You can usually find them at Target and bigger drug stores.

9) Soothie brand bottles. The nipples are the same shape as the Soothie pacifiers that hospitals give out. They were great when we needed to transition from breast to bottle. I also loved the bigger shape of the bottles.

10) If you choose to use formula, don't be afraid of the generic brands. Formulas are government regulated, so they're all basically the same. Even my pediatrician said that generic was just as good. And you can't beat it at half the price!


Pregnancy/Baby items that I didn't like...
1) Stretchmark lotions. While they're great for soothing stretched out, dry skin, doctors agree that they're not going to help. You either get stretchmarks or you don't. Any good lotion will help with the dry skin.

2) The Itzbeen timer. It's a device that allows you to track diaper changes, naps, feedings and even what breast you last nursed on. However, I found that as a harried, sleepless mother of a newborn, I rarely remembered to push the button to reset the timers, so it wasn't effective at all for me. You may have better success with it, but it wasn't for me.

3) Butt Paste. It may be good for preventing diaper rash, but there's nothing that competes with Desitin for healing diaper rash. What Butt Paste will take days to heal, Desitin can do in a treatment or two.

Those really are the only three I can think of at the moment. And you may like the ones that I didn't like, and vice versa. These are just my personal experiences and opinions:)

How I'm feeling today...exhausted!!! Either I'd forgotten how tired you get or it's worse this time around. I feel like I can't keep my eyes open!

Twins?

I have an irrational fear of having multiples. My sister has twin, three year old girls and they're awesome. Having multiples wouldn't be so bad. However, my sister didn't find out she was having twins until she was nearing her third trimester. Talk about a shock! When I was pregnant with our first child, I had nightmares on a regular basis that we were having three or four babies at once. Needless to say, the first ultrasound was very comforting to me. Too bad I had to wait until 13 weeks to get there! I did ask the doctor if he was sure there was only one. He just laughed. Even now I feel like there's a possibility that I'm carrying twins. My pregnancy tests were positive earlier than usual. My symptoms seem to be more severe and much earlier than before. I have a very active imagination. I know that my blood levels will be different if it's twins, but not having an ultrasound until around 18 weeks seems like forever.

I think I'm more paranoid of something going wrong this time around. I'm afraid to pick up my daughter. Every little feeling I have makes me think that something might be wrong. I thought this was supposed to be easier the second time around?! I'll feel better once I get to go to the doctor, I'm sure, but that's still 22 days away. Until then, I'm praying for sanity and for a healthy baby and pregnancy. Well, even after that I'll be praying those things, I suppose.

How am I feeling? I'm suddenly exhausted. It came out of nowhere yesterday. I've had a few waves of nausea and I'm definitely feeling some abdominal aches. I'm not really sure I'd call them cramps, but it feels weird and achy. I had zero symptoms with Baby #1, so I feel like this is a whole different ball game. Hopefully, they'll pass quickly and I can stop worrying about everything!!

Next blog? The mistake of NOT getting the flu shot when you're pregnant. It's a big one!

Spreading the news!

Things are definitely a little different the second time around. Saturday night when we got the digital "pregnant," we jumped up and down and immediately called our parents and sisters. I was hesitant because it's so early, but we wanted to share are good news. They were shocked. Just two weeks ago we were with Kraig's family for Thanksgiving and I assured them that I was not pregnant. Guess I was wrong! With our first pregnancy things were a little different.

With Baby #1, I took my first pregnancy test on a Sunday afternoon. It was November 23rd, three days before we were expecting Kraig's family to arrive at our house for Thanksgiving. We decided that we would much rather share the news in person, especially since it was only a few days to wait. Kate was the first grandchild in Kraig's family. We tried to find a cute way to tell everyone, but we couldn't think of anything spectacular. We ended up hiding the tiny pair of shoes I'd bought for Kraig on our Christmas tree, hoping that someone would find them. We really thought we could wait until they were discovered. Everyone arrived late Wednesday night, and we waited for a while but the anticipation was too much. Kraig walked over to the tree and said, "Do you like our new ornament?" and threw the shoes at his mom. It wasn't long until everyone realized what was going on and lots of excitement filled the small house.

We were headed to throw a surprise 25th anniversary party for my parents a week and a half later, so we decided to tell them in person, too. We went to my sister's house the night before the party to get the planning done. Not long after we arrived my sister flat out said, "You're pregnant, aren't you?." There was no telling, she just knew. After a successful party the next night, we had my parents open their card from Kraig and I before we all left to go home. The card was signed "Love, Kraig, Stacy & Baby Bishop." They were thrilled! My mom was a little miffed that we didn't call and tell her immediately, but I wanted to see the looks on their faces. We told a few other close friends not long after that, but we saved our big announcement until the end of the first trimester. It was a long wait. I was showing pretty early, so I'm sure there were plenty of speculations before we finally told everyone.

This time around, we're thinking we'll tell our extended families at Christmas and then we'll announce it to the rest of the world (aka Facebook) after my first appointment on December 31st. I'll also take this blog public at that time, I think. Right now, I'm writing it more for me, but I do hope it becomes something more. I loved reading this kind of stuff, so I figure I can't be the only one:) That's our stories, though. Nothing too exciting. It's hard to be too sneaky and elaborate when you're so excited. You just wanna spill the beans!

Oh yes! I also promised an update on how I'm feeling so far. Today I'm 4w 2d, I think. Emotionally, I'm doing well. The first night or two, I was excited but I also cried several times. I feel like I'm going to be neglecting Kate if I have another baby. I know that's not true, but it made me cry. She needs to get used to not being the center of attention. It will be good for her. Now I'm just working through the logistics of where we're going to put a baby. We're hoping to buy a house that we can be in before the baby is born. We're paying too much for our rental now, and it's not a ton of space. We'll see!! Physically, I'm hungry, but it's probably in my head. Other than that, nothing so far. And I'm fine with that. I never really had symptoms with Kate and it was wonderful.

Next post? My fear of multiples...